Cooling and heating systems for vehicles are generally known. Most of these systems have an air conditioning system for cooling the passenger compartment of the vehicle and a separate heating system for heating the passenger compartment. The air conditioning system typically has air blown across an evaporator wherein a liquified refrigerant is expanded to a gas. The expansion of the liquified refrigerant provides cooling for the air as it blows across the evaporator. Examples of these air conditioning systems may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,884,768 to Gould entitled "Automobile Refrigerating Apparatus", U.S. Pat. No. 2,193,838 to Murphy et al. entitled "Air Conditioning System For Vehicles", and U.S. Pat. No. 2,193,835 to Murphy et al. entitled "Air Conditioning System."
The heating system typically interacts with the engine coolant fluid in the radiator of the vehicle. The coolant fluid is usually heated by the operation of the vehicle engine. The heated fluid is then transported to a heat exchanger located within an air duct of the vehicle. Similar to the air conditioning system, air is blown across the heat exchanger through which the heated fluid is flowing and then into the passenger compartment during operation of the vehicle. This heated blown air provides the heat for the passenger compartment.
These heating and cooling systems also typically have an air control flap within the air duct for controlling the direction of the flow of air across these heat exchangers. A control mechanism typically allows for the manual adjustment of temperature by the vehicle passenger. More sophisticated systems were also developed for automatically adjusting the temperature of the passenger compartment to maintain the compartment at a passenger selected predetermined temperature (i.e., 72.degree. Fahrenheit). An example of such a system may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,967 by Sumikawa et al. entitled "Car Air Conditioner With Heat Storage Tank For Cooling Energy." These systems sense the change in temperature within the compartment and automatically control the flow of air to the compartment to adjust to the selected predetermined temperature.
Also, thermal storage systems have been developed for some air conditioning systems, such as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,271 by Honigsbaum entitled "Air Conditioning System Having Controllably Coupled Thermal Storage Capability," U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,998 by Carr entitled "Thermal Energy Storage Apparatus," and U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,540 entitled "Thermal Energy Storage Apparatus." These storage systems store cooled air for bursts of cooling needed during various periods of vehicle operation such as when climbing hills or for cooling and/or heating when the vehicle engine is not in operation.
Although numerous thermal storage systems have been proposed which are capable of improving cooling and/or heating efficiency for motor vehicles, such systems typically require substantial modification of the heating and/or cooling systems presently in use. The retrofit of such systems into existing vehicles can be difficult and/or cost prohibitive and adaptation of new vehicles to incorporate such systems can require substantial changes in the vehicle manufacturing process and/or design.